12 Hours of Sebring

Hold on tight, it's party time...and you think the 12 Hours of Sebring is an automobile race.

Hold on tight, it's party time... and you think the 12 Hours of Sebring is an automobile race.

In fact, it is. And it is now in its 56th year, with a history studded with winning names like Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Derek Bell, Johnny O'Connell, , Porsche and . Wander the infield, however, and the computer-driven brain trusts, precision timing and mega horsepower of the racing teams gives way to beer and beads. It's springtime, the chill is gone and the thermometer is creeping up past 80 degrees. Halter-top time... pass the brew, bro...

Whoops, back to the racing...

It's difficult to believe it had been 20 years since took an overall win in the 12 Hours of Sebring. But come the 10 p.m. finish this year, the LMP2-class Roger Penske Porsche RS Spyder driven by Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and Emmanuel Collard brought the German company another Sebring win.

Another P2 Porsche was 2nd, and the 8-times-in-a-row winner—, with its R10 diesel—managed 3rd. A pair of P2 cars, a Porsche and an Acura, slotted in at 4th and 5th with the second Audi in 6th. Another Porsche claimed 7th with a mighty factory Corvette in 8th. The next P1 machine, the Jon/Clint Field and Richard Berry Lola-AER, came in 9th with the second Vette in 10th.

Originally everyone thought the race would come down to the two Audis versus the very quick Peugeot 908 diesel-fired P1 racer, and that's how the race began. With the French car leading, the surprisingly quiet trio whistled around the 3.7-mile road course. But mechanical foibles cost all three cars extended pitstops while the Penske Porsche soldiered on, reliable as an anvil.

Aft of the P1 and P2 classes, the GT1 Corvettes again made mincemeat of the Aston Martins. Both the American and British machines look like well-armored warriors. While winning the class with Ron Fellows and Jan Magnussen, Johnny O'Connell broke Phil Hill's record of six overall or class wins.

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